Governor Cuomo takes his second tour of the Gateway Tunnel

Last night, Governor Cuomo toured the Gateway Tunnel to survey its levels of corrosion and damage beneath the Hudson River. He was joined by the same experts from Cornell University’s College of Engineering and Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science who toured the Canarsie Tunnel last week with the Governor. The purpose of the tour was to provide insight into rehabilitating the Canarsie Tunnel ahead of the L train shutdown. However, the tour may definitely have done double duty as a push to the Trump administration, reiterating the importance of this critical project which won’t be able to go forward without federal support.

After Governor Cuomo first toured the Gateway Tunnel in October, he sent a video to President Trump exposing the damage and underlining the need to partner with New York and New Jersey to fully fund the Gateway Tunnel Project. He then met with President Trump at the White House in November to discuss infrastructure priorities, including the Gateway Tunnel, as 6sqft previously reported. Though the two touted that the meeting was “productive,” no funding agreement was reached.

“Like the Canarsie tunnel, the Gateway Tunnel saw extensive damage as a result of Hurricane Sandy and is in urgent need of rehabilitation,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement. “We now have some of the best minds in the world studying the Canarsie Tunnel Rehabilitation, and this site visit at Gateway will help inform their evaluation. As Governor I want to make sure we leave no stone unturned so that the MTA ultimately moves forward with the best and most effective plan possible.”